Board's plan to subdivide soccer field raises fears of Vancouver schools losing playing surfaces

Parents and students in East Vancouver are set to mark what might be their last sports day at the soccer field at Graham D. Bruce Elementary School on Thursday.

It comes as the Vancouver School Board mulls plans to subdivide a portion of the soccer field, and then either sell it or lease it to generate revenue.

It's part of the school board's land asset strategy, which aims to "leverage surplus land holdings" among the city's schools in order to fund new projects, according to the VSB.

But parents at Bruce Elementary — which serves 270 children in the Joyce-Collingwood neighbourhood — say they already fought to stop the school being closed once before, in 2016, and they fear the potential subdivision of the field could be a bad sign for other schools across Vancouver.

"So much has changed since 2016. There's been so many housing initiatives," said Melanie Cheng, vice-president of the Graham Bruce Elementary School parent advisory council. "We are asking for VSB to update its plan to include things like housing data, developments, all the initiatives for greater densification.

"But they're refusing to do so. They're defaulting back to a closure and consolidation mindset."

Cheng says the City of Vancouver has approved numerous rezoning projects in the school's catchment area, which would likely add to the school's intake each year.

Cheng, who has two children currently attending the school as well as one who has graduated, was herself a student at Bruce Elementary, which was built in 1963.

While the school itself isn't on the chopping block, Cheng says she fears the loss of 4,000 square metres of the playing field could signal similar cuts at all VSB schools, especially older ones. 

She says the playing surface served generations of families in the Collingwood community, and losing part of it would be a "huge hole" for the neighbourhood.

In a planning document, school board staff say they have had City of Vancouver staff look at the proposed subdivision line to the east of the school.

"The subdivision of the eastern portion of the site would help to minimize noise and air pollution," the document reads. "A portion of the proceeds from [land] disposition could be used to upgrade the existing all-weather (gravel) field to a more resilient play surface."

Adrian Dix pledges support

A spokesperson for the VSB said in a statement that Bruce Elementary had a larger site size — at 1.98 hectares — compared to the average elementary school size in the city, at 1.78 hectares.

They said the proposed lease or sale of the "surplus" land would generate revenue to address capital commitments and "priorities that would benefit students".

Cheng says, however, that the remaining land in the playing field, if the subdivision went through, is "hilly" and not of use to students.

The VSB spokesperson said that no decision had been made yet on the soccer field's future, and a public engagement process would begin in the fall. A decision is expected "later in the year" on the subdivision.

Cheng says she worries the engagement will not reach all the school's parents, especially given there is a large immigrant population in the neighbourhood.

"They've already got a plan. This was just sprung on everybody and they're not going to give up and neither are we," she said.

Adrian Dix, the MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway, has been vocal in his support of Bruce Elementary when it was on the chopping block in the last decade.

"I continue to support the Graham Bruce School community now and will be with them, as they work, and sometimes fight, to defend Bruce students and the community," he said in a statement to CBC News on Wednesday.